Accidentally in Blackcastle
by Peeves and Ronni
Summary: Judal didn't know what had gone wrong with his spell. It should have been perfect, but instead of presenting his king with a time/space spell strong enough to rebuff his enemies, Judal and Hakuryuu now found themselves in the ever strange city of Blackcastle, where their only hope of returning to their world is to rely on the help of three…weirdos…[AU following the Alma Torran arc]
1. A Magical Mishap

**A Magical Mishap**

Everything was blurry when Judal came to. Blurry and unreasonably painful. He had gotten headaches from over-exhausting his magoi before, but this was just a whole new level of ridiculous. Space manipulation or not, no spell should make one feel as if their brain is being mashed through a flour sifter. Judal squinted as he attempted to put his surroundings into focus, but instead of finding a devastated palace courtyard to smirk out at, his vision fell upon a dingy, age stained and crumbling, stone grey wall.

"What the hell…?" Judal scowled as his vision cleared completely. He lifted himself up onto his sore limbs and sauntered towards the wall in disappointment. This wasn't part of the Kou Palace, it shouldn't have been a by-product of his spell. The spell he'd cast had been meant to destroy, not to defend or transport. Transport. That's it, maybe he'd messed up a command and the spell had landed him in a different part of the continent. Judal growled and punched the wall in an effort to release some of his frustration. All that practice and he still hadn't pulled it off…no matter. Once he recovered a bit more magoi, he would return to the palace to resume his studies.

Judal sighed and looked to his left, where light leaked into the dirty room through a broken window. He shuffled over to the window carelessly, figuring that it couldn't hurt to know where he'd landed before heading home. But as he looked down on the busy streets below, he realized something. He…didn't recognize this place. He could have sworn that he'd flown over every possible country in their world, and recently he'd even sat through that insanely boring presentation by that baby magi, Aladdin. And yet…he couldn't recognize a single building in this city.

Everything looked wrong. From the tall glass buildings towering overhead to the mysterious shiny carts pulling themselves down below. This was…impossible. "What the hell is going on here…?" Judal growled menacingly as he stared into the masses on the streets below. "Is this some kinda sick joke?!"

His shouts failed to breach the noise, and while he briefly considered staining the ground red with their blood, a groan rose up behind him. "Judal, I'm not sure that spell will be of much use to us if it's going to incapacitate our own troops as well…"

Judal's head whipped around to see his king, Hakuryuu, wincing as he attempted to rise to his feet. The magi's scowl deepened at the sight of him, and with extreme effort, he managed to make his voice level as he addressed the young king. "I'm afraid the spell didn't work as planned."

"I see. Well, we can employ other methods to fight our enemies, so it's no matter…where are we…?"

"The spell I was using looks like it backfired. We were teleported somewhere..." Judal muttered as he turned back to the window, "and I really don't know where the hell we are."

"What?" Hakuryuu rose to his feet behind Judal and stumbled over to the window beside the magi, still clearly fatigued as a result of the spell. For a few moments his hazy lack of recognition continued, until at last he leaned out the window and gaped in shock at his surroundings. "W-Where in the world are we?!"

"Didn't I just say that I don't know? Jeez," Judal muttered before swiveling around and heading towards the door. "It won't do us any good to stay here. We should have a look around."

"R-Right."

oooOOOooo

Twenty times. He had been called a loon twenty times. This, of course, did not account for the ten who had complimented his and Hakuryuu's costumes, or the five who had praised their acting skills, nor the few who had paid them in weird coins and crumpled bills for the stunning performance. Not a one. Not a single bloody person had bothered to tell them where they were. Judal had never once been so strongly compelled to commit murder before in his lifetime, not til now.

"The customs of this kingdom are very strange…" Hakuryuu murmured beside Judal, seeming somewhat more energetic than the agitated magi. "I've never seen clothes like these before, and there seem to be magic tools all over, even more than Magnostadt itself…"

"So this place has more magic than that crusty old joke of a country, whoop dee do," Judal replied lazily, "Well if that's the case, why can't I summon more Rukh? And why is my magoi taking so damn long to return?"

"Well…there could be any number of reasons for that, right?"

"Not as many reasons as you'd think," Judal muttered as he stopped and studied the buildings surrounding them. "I don't get it…"

"Excuse me, boys."

"Hm?" Judal looked over his shoulder and saw a few men in weird uniforms walking towards them. "What?"

"We've been getting reports of two crazy people disturbing the peace in this square, and according to a few witnesses around here, that's you. Now I'm not saying you're actually crazy, but if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to take you down to the station for a little routine questioning."

"Huh?"

"Let me say it simpler for ya, ya damn weirdo," another uniformed man said as he walked up next to his companion. "Get in the car."

Judal stared at the gruff man for a moment before breaking into a toothy grin. "And what if I say no?"

"It ain't a question, ya little brat, it's an order. Get in the car, both of ya."

Judal grinned a little wider before letting out a tiny laugh. "You can't tell me what to do."

The man scowled for a moment before taking a step forward, his eyes still glaring daggers into the defiant magi. What happened next was something Judal hadn't quite expected. He felt something cold and blunt connect with his stomach, delivering a blow strong enough to knock the air out of him. His legs buckled beneath him as he fell into a coughing fit and glared at the man, whose sneer made it obvious that he'd enjoyed that.

"You should know better than to talk back to a cop, ya cheeky bastard."

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?"

Judal held a hand over his stomach and rose to his feet as Hakuryuu spoke up next to him, his balance wavering slightly before he righted himself. Having the wind knocked out of him had hurt like hell, but luckily he wasn't the only one who was pissed about his treatment. It seemed that the asshole that hit him managed to anger Hakuryuu as well.

"What am I doin'? I'm doin' my job and apprehending the suspects. And the two a ya are the suspects, so why don't you kids be good little brats for a moment and get in the car."

"If you put a little more effort into showing respect," Hakuryuu said evenly, "I might have obliged you on that request, but since you instead chose to look down on me and injure my magi, I'm afraid following your orders is something I will not do."

Judal grinned weakly as he watched the "cop" shrink back a little in his king's presence, laughing a little as they stepped back towards their companion. "Damn coward is just acting all high and mighty, Hakuryuu," he chuckled, "but honestly he's weak as hell."

The young man turned his eyes to the magi briefly before returning his gaze to the officials. "I believe your stomach would say otherwise."

"Shut up, I wasn't prepared for that," Judal snapped, "and besides, my physical skill doesn't mean a damn thing when I have magic."

"Which is something you lack at the moment, is it not?"

Judal pouted at Hakuryuu in irritation. "I do too have magic…my magoi's just taking some time to recover…"

"It seems like we're gonna have ta grab these loons by force…" the gruff official muttered before turning to his more composed companion, "Call for backup! The bastard with the scar probably won't go down without a fight!"

"Heh," Judal smirked as the composed official ran back towards their strange metal cart, "You could easily wipe the floor with this jackass, couldn't you, Hakuryuu?"

"Probably."

The magi grinned, his eyes fixed solely on the man who'd hit him while he waited for his king to give him hell, but sadly seemed that Hakuryuu did not share his plans.

"But we aren't staying to find out."

"Huh?"

"It's time to retreat, Judal," Hakuryuu murmured as he grabbed the magi by the wrist sprinted into the mob of people occupying the city square.

"What?! But we were just getting to the good part!"

"We're at too much of a disadvantage!" Hakuryuu shouted back, "you can't use magic, we don't know the enemy's numbers and on top of that we're surrounded by at least a hundred civilians!"

"Who gives a shit about the bystanders?!"

"Do you really want to find out what happens if we anger the government here?!"

"Why not?! Sounds like fun!"

"Save that attitude for a time when we aren't this weak!" Hakuryuu yanked Judal into an alleyway at random as the magi groaned in protest. After a few more turns they slowed to a stop in a tiny back alley, and Judal struggled to catch his breath after being forced to keep up with his king.

"I think we lost them for now…as out of shape as always, Judal?"

"Shut your trap," the magi spat, "there wouldn't be a fucking problem if I fly like normal."

"I'm a little concerned about how long it's taking for you to restore your magic. At least two hours have passed since we woke up and you're still incapable of even the simplest spell, aren't you?"

"That's—"

"If your magoi hasn't recovered by sundown, we'll have to find somewhere to spend the night, and since we managed to get on the bad side of the authorities, I doubt that place will have a roof. We'll need to find a way back tomorrow. I can't afford to be away from the palace right now."

"There they are!"

Judal groaned as a pair of uniformed officials appeared at one end of the back alley—and he had just recovered from their last run. "Can't we fight them this time?"

"No. Start running."

oooOOOooo

 _Ayyyyy. Peeves here, bringing you yet another story from my trash brain just because I can. So the premise of this is simple, no? Ye, well to explain a little further, this story is set in a modern/future AU setting, but with characters from the canon. Imagine that Magi and The Devil is a Part Timer had a baby but Magi filed for full custody and won. That is what this story is. Now for the first time in a while this is not a pairing-centric fic, so the story will mostly focus on Hakuryuu and Judal's interactions and how they survive. Fave, follow or review if it interests you, mkay?_

 _p.s.-if you came here from Still Dreaming, I am working on that, promise_


	2. Just a Few Friendly Strangers

**Just a Few Friendly Strangers**

Judal felt like he was dying. They had spent the past four hours being chased by the authorities, only managing small breaks here and there when they actually managed to break away. In truth, the men had likely given up a while ago, but Hakuryuu had insisted that they keep their distance from any officials and ran halfway across the strange city to maintain that distance. Judal flung his back against the alley wall for the umpteenth time and groaned wearily.

"No more," he whined, but it seemed that his pain was being ignored.

"It seems that we'll be sleeping out here tonight," Hakuryuu mused as he studied the darkening sky. "Unless, of course, you've recovered enough magoi to transport us home."

"Something tells me that the answer is the same as it was fifteen fucking minutes ago…" Judal mumbled wearily.

"I didn't receive an answer fifteen minutes ago, you simply groaned at me."

"That was your answer."

"I see. Well we should look for a dead end to rest in, or perhaps some sort of awning to sit beneath. I doubt the officials will be looking for us in the dead of night."

"You'd be surprised."

Judal blinked as the feminine voice intruded on their conversation, and he turned his eyes up towards the other side of the alley, where a dark skinned woman was looking down at them from a long metal staircase that stopped one story short of the ground. She smiled and leaned her head into one hand before turning her gaze from Judal to Hakuryuu. "The night watch in the center city is pretty diligent about curfew, and that starts in about…fifty minutes. Trust me, if you haven't found some sort of room to sleep in by then, they'll be happy to relocate you to one with bars."

"Who the hell are you?"

The woman turned her eyes back to Judal, her lips still pressed into a conceited smirk as she addressed him. "A friendly stranger, here to help you two out. But that's a little long, so you can call me Bellatrix instead. And what should I call you, Mr. Potty-mouth?"

"You're here to help us?" Hakuryuu inquired as Judal glared daggers into the woman named Bellatrix.

"Yup. My roommates and I saw you on the news today. Thought we'd lend a hand in your…predicament."

"We don't need your fucking help," Judal spat, causing Bellatrix to giggle a bit.

"You sure about that, sweetheart?"

"If we don't know you, how do we know we trust you?"

Bellatrix turned her gaze back towards Hakuryuu briefly before pulling away from the railing and turning back towards the building. After a moment, the silence was broken by the sound of creaking metal as a staircase fell from the platform and the young woman came down from her high perch. "To be really honest…" she began as she descended the last two steps of the staircase, "you don't know if you can trust me. As you said, I'm just a stranger. But maybe, you'd prefer to chance coming with me, the results might just beat prison. That's your call though."

Bellatrix smiled and shoved hands into her pockets, and Judal frowned as he studied her appearance in the fading light. She seemed to be around his height, with pretty curvy proportions and a possibly athletic build. Her hair, despite being mostly hidden by a dark green hat and a light green scarf, appeared to be a mop of thick dark brown ringlets, and her clothing consisted of leather boots, snug fitting pants and a sleeveless shirt and jacket. She looked like most of the people around these parts, but the way she held herself seemed a little different…

"So…? Yay or nay? Because the clock is ticking and I still have to haul ass back home before curfew if you say no."

Judal growled at that and pushed off the wall at that, disliking her more and more with each stride. "We don't—"

"Very well," Hakuryuu interjected before he could speak another word, "We'll accept your help."

Bellatrix grinned while the magi gaped at his king. "But, Hakuryuu, we don't—"

"I would prefer to avoid being arrested," Hakuryuu spoke evenly, "And it seems like she is our only way to prevent that. So I am going to trust her for now."

"But—"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Bellatrix offered, making Judal even more irritated. He grumbled a moment before crossing his arms and looking away.

"Fine, I'll let her help."

"That's the spirit, hun," Bellatrix said triumphantly, and Judal could have sworn that he heard her arrogant smirk. "Car's this way, let's go."

The woman turned heel and walked out of alleyway, followed closely by Hakuryuu, and the magi hesitated just a moment before following suit. As they exited the alleyway, Bellatrix led them to one of the metal carts stationed on the opposite side of the street and pulled out an object that seemed to be a ring of keys. She pointed it at the cart and lights on the front and back of it lit up, causing Hakuryuu to step back cautiously. Bellatrix chuckled at the action before opening one of the doors on the side of the vehicle and turning back to them.

"Okay, I have to ask, do you really need the spear?"

"I do," Hakuryuu replied, pulling the weapon closer to his body.

"Well then…it's gonna have to go in the trunk. Unless you want to behead yourself or your friend here."

"Would you not have an advantage over us if I parted with it?"

"Uh, you can still try your luck with the cops," Bellatrix replied, "I'm not exactly begging for your company."

Hakuryuu's gaze narrowed on the woman, and he paused before relaxing and holding his spear out to her. "I suppose if I say I'm going to trust you, I should act like I do, should I not?"

"It's fine, hun," Bellatrix smiled as she took hold of the weapon. "I'm not fond of parting with my toys either." She walked over to the back of the car and opened it up, spinning the pole briefly before tossing it in and slamming the door closed. "So," she spoke up again as she opened the other side door and gestured for Hakuryuu and Judal to get in. "Do the two of you have names?"

"My apologies," the young king bowed slightly before moving to enter the cart. "My name is Hakuryuu. Hakuryuu Ren. And this is my magi, Judal."

"I can introduce myself," Judal huffed as he followed Hakuryuu into the cart.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was your name again, Mr. Potty-mouth?"

"It's Judal," the magi spat, "Not Mr. Potty-mouth, you stupid hag."

"Nice to make your acquaintance too, Judal," Bellatrix chuckled as she shut their door and ducked into the seat in front of them.

"This is certainly a strange magic tool…" Hakuryuu murmured causing Bellatrix to snort a little.

"Magic tool? I wish. If it was magic maybe it would drive itself."

"How does it work then?"

"Well, to overly simplify it, you stick this key in the ignition and—"

Judal jolted as the cart suddenly revved and sprung to life, and he looked up in time to see Bellatrix grinning back at them.

"—voila."

 _["Please tell me you aren't trying to show off your impressively awful driving skills again, Bell."]_

"What was that?" Hakuryuu spoke up cautiously as a girl's voice sprung up from a panel next to Bellatrix's seat.

"Oh, perfect timing, Neela," the woman smiled as she turned back to the panel. "Do you think you can route me through the backroads to our place?"

 _["Well, I can, but if you take the backroads you'll never get here before curfew."]_

"Well…yeah…but I really can't afford to get another ticket today."

 _["Why…is there an 'another' in that sentence…?"]_

"Well, I was speeding like normal…"

 _["What have I told you about the speeding?"]_

"And I got stopped by the patrol officer on the highway…"

 _["That would be his job."]_

"And it kinda turned out that I'd stood him up on a date once."

 _["I swear to god, Bell."]_

"Um…why is the cart talking to you…?" Hakuryuu asked again, causing Bellatrix to turn back to him.

"Oh, right, that's Neela, she's one of my roommates."

"So you're using clairvoyance magic or something to communicate?" Judal asked.

 _["Actually, we had our roommate Max install a tracking device and telephone in the car that connects to my computer back home as soon as Bell turns the car on. It was the easiest way to keep her from getting lost without buying a new GPS. Also, I'm way more accurate than a robot."]_

Judal's brow knit together as he tried to process what the voice said, but after a moment, he gave up and turned to face the window. "Whatever."

 _["Okay…I've got your route. Are you all wearing seatbelts?"]_

"Yup!"

 _["You suck at lying Bell. If you die on the way home it isn't my fault."]_

"Noted."

A loud sigh erupted from the voice. _["Please put your seatbelt on."]_

"Make me."

 _["Put your fucking seatbelt on, you bitch."]_

"Yes ma'am."

oooOOOooo

 _So….Peeves here. Another chapter closed, and I would like to take a moment to explain that Bellatrix did not get her name from the Harry Potter character. So…again, fave, follow and review if you want and I'll be back with more later._


	3. The Roommates

**The Roommates**

Hakuryuu was starting to question his decision to trust Bellatrix. Of course, she still seemed mostly trustworthy, that was still true…but after a good half an hour of clinging for dear life to his seat as the car sped and swerved through the streets, he wasn't so sure. Well, they occasionally slowed to a reasonable pace whenever Neela mumbled "cop car coming up", and then screeched back into furious action as soon as the coast was clear.

 _["You know one of these days you are going to get in an accident. Either that or your license is gonna be revoked."]_

"Just tell me where the next turn is, bitch!" Bellatrix snapped, causing the girl on the other line to let out a soft sigh.

 _["Go right onto River St in half a mile…oh, hold on, I got another call."]_

"Don't you fucking dare," Bellatrix growled.

 _["…you know that stuff called food that you like? Well, this job is how I pay for it. Just turn right on River and go straight until the next stoplight, I'll be right back."]_

"Neela, don't—" but before the woman could get out another word, the line had clicked and gone dead, causing her to let out an angry howl as she swerved right onto a new street. "I'm gonna murder her. I'm going to beat her to death with her bloody computer and then I'm gonna find the sorry bastard that needs tech support at this hour of all fucking times and beat him to death with his fucking computer!"

"Sounds like fun, can I help?" Judal laughed, his annoyance with Bellatrix having nearly faded as soon as the car sped into action.

"Sure," Bellatrix muttered absently, "you hold her down and I'll do the beating."

Judal laughed again, and Hakuryuu attempted to sink further into his seat for stability as Bellatrix hit the brakes on the car hard enough to make it screech. As the vehicle finally came to a halt, Hakuryuu tried to catch his breath while he looked to figure out why they'd stopped. It seemed that the light overhanging the street had turned red, and Bellatrix was leaning on the wheel of the car while staring up at the light and tapping the wheel impatiently with one finger.

"By all means, take your time changing green, it's not like curfew starts in three fucking minutes and I'm in a hurry, take your damn time."

 _["You really need to work on containing your road rage."]_

"Like you have any right to talk bitch! You can't even drive!"

 _["Why should I learn to drive when I rarely leave the house? And I have a lifetime supply of bus tokens that aren't expiring anytime within the next century, so I'm set. You're gonna wanna turn left here. Then left again on the second intersection."]_

"I swear I'm going to beat you into next week when I get home," Bellatrix muttered as the car sprung back to life and swerved to the left, and within seconds Hakuryuu was back to hyperventilating.

 _["If you do that then I'm eating your slice of cake."]_

Bellatrix let out another low growl as she spun the wheel towards the left and the car followed suit. "God I hate you right now."

 _["Love you too, Bell. Alright, continue straight for a mile and our street should be on your right. Oh, and before I forget, you did get me that pack of butterscotch beer that I wanted, right?"]_

There was a pause. Hakuryuu's brow knit together as Bellatrix suddenly swore under her breath.

 _["…Do not…tell me…that you forgot my butter beer."]_

"I might have spent the money on lun—"

 _["ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"]_

"Sorry…?"

 _["Do you have any idea how much money you owe me at this point?! I'm gonna kill you when you get home!"]_

"I got hungry…"

 _["I don't fucking give a shit!"]_

Bellatrix winced as the line clicked and went dead again but this time, instead of letting out an angry howl, the woman let out something akin to a whimper. "Knew that Big Mac discount wasn't worth it…"

"So what if she's upset?" Judal said, "she's the one that trusted you with the money."

"You don't understand," Bellatrix whined, "Neela doesn't get angry, she gets vengeance."

"…Okay then…"

oooOOOooo

The rest of the car ride had gone in silence. Neela didn't come back even once, and by the time they'd pulled into the driveway, Hakuryuu could have sworn that Bellatrix had gone several shades paler and even looked a little sick. They even sat there, for a good minute, as the woman stared off, seeming almost consumed by a nightmare. Neela must have been pretty terrifying if she had Bellatrix this scared.

"Are you gonna let us out?" Judal finally asked impatiently, causing Bellatrix to snap back to reality and open up her own door.

"Yeah, let's get this over with…" she mumbled as she climbed out and opened their door. "Come on, before the patrol realizes we aren't inside." Bellatrix turned back and shut her own door before walking out of Hakuryuu's line of vision. The young king let out a short huff as he struggled against his seat belt and crawling out of the car after Judal. The house that Bellatrix was leading them towards seemed fairly normal; it only rose to about two stories, with a slanted roof, two unassuming windows on the right of the front door and a wooden platform wide enough to hold three metal chairs and a table jutting out from the entrance. It was too small to be a noble's home, yet sturdier than he'd imagine a commoner's residence.

Hakuryuu stared at the building only a few moments more before following Judal up to the entrance where Bellatrix was fiddling with her key ring in an attempt to find the right key again. After a while, she found it and unlocked the door, hesitating only a moment before opening it and stepping into the house.

"I'm hom—"

"Useless!"

Suddenly Bellatrix's head swung back as what appeared to be a throw pillow connected with her face, and she let out a slight groan as it fell before holding her arms up in defense against the assailant that had apparently been waiting for her. "I said I was so—"

"Stupid! Unreliable! Piece! Of! Shit!" With every word a new item was pelted in Bellatrix's general direction, though all but one didn't manage to find their target. As he caught the salt shaker that had flown his way, Hakuryuu took a moment to study the girl standing in the middle of the hallway, and found that the person, whom he could only assume was "Neela", was not quite what he'd pictured. During the car ride she'd sounded mildly sophisticated—albeit young, but at the least he'd expected an adult. But Neela…by all rights, looked like she couldn't have been older than twelve at a first glance.

She stood only a few inches taller than Aladdin had last time he'd seen the boy, and by the look of her scrawny features she probably didn't weigh much more. Her black hair was held back in two messily styled buns, and her honey colored skin was mostly covered by a pair of snug fitting black pants and a loose, dress-like blue tunic*. Neela growled in anger as she lobbed the last object in her arms at Bell, hitting the woman square on the elbow.

"Ow! Neela, that was my funny bone!" Bellatrix whined, causing her friend's face to contort further with anger.

"Oh trust me, you're gonna hurt in more places than just your funny bone by the time I'm done with you!"

"I'll pay you back, okay?!"

"When?! Is it going to be sometime during this century?! Or should I have myself cryogenically frozen so that when your _ancestors_ finally finish paying me back, they can revive me?!"

"Well, I haven't worked out the logistics quite yet—"

"Oh swear I'm gonna…" Neela turned to her left and swung open a compartment in the wall, causing Bellatrix to let out a soft whine.

"Oh come on, not the shoe closet, I just organized that today…"

"Get a fucking job already!" Neela howled as she began throwing shoes in Bell's general direction.

"I do have a job!"

"You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Bell, but former soldier for hire is not a fucking job! You could use your skills to be a bodyguard, for example!"

"Like hell I'm gonna babysit some snot nosed rich kid."

Police force!"

"That includes desk work though…"

"Who gives a flying fuck, it's still better than nothing!"

"I'm home."

Hakuryuu jolted a bit as another voice sprung up from behind him, and he turned to see a somewhat short man with strawberry blonde hair and pale skin standing in the doorway.

"Max!" Bellatrix gasped. "Thank god! Could you please tell Neela that I'll pay her back? She won't listen to me!"

"Sorry, Bell, but I don't lie," Max said bluntly as he squeezed past Hakuryuu, "Also, you owe me four bucks."

"What do I owe you four bucks for?!"

"For this," Max replied as he held out a pack of what appeared to be glass bottles to Neela.

The girl lit up almost instantly upon seeing them, taking it as the shoes she'd previously been holding dropped to the floor. "You are a saint," she murmured as she looked up at the man.

"And you owe me five rounds on Smite," the man continued, causing Neela's smile to immediately vanish.

"Nevermind, I hate you," she replied as she turned and stomped down the hall to the right.

"That's more like it…" Max smirked before turning back to Bellatrix. "So do crazy 1 and crazy 2 over here have names?"

"Who do you think you're calling crazy, asshole?" Judal spat while the woman in front of them pointed back at him with her thumb.

"Judal and Hakuryuu," Bellatrix answered before turning back to the young king. "You guys mind following us to the kitchen? We have some stuff we need to talk about, and I'm sure you two are hungry by now."

Hakuryuu hesitated briefly before managing a short nod. Despite being all too bewildered by the chaotic scenes he'd just witnessed, some food would definitely be appreciated. "Very well," he spoke softly and followed the woman down the hall that Neela had disappeared into.

"So exactly how much has Bell explained to you two already?"

Hakuryuu glanced over at Neela as they entered the kitchen. They held eye contact a moment before Neela turned back to the strange humming closet in front of her and placed the bottles Max had given her inside. "She told us that you three were willing to offer us a place to stay for the night…"

"I said I was going to help with your predicament," Bellatrix corrected as she pulled herself up onto the counter.

"Is there a difference?" Judal asked, winning little more than a smirk from the woman.

"So you explained the exact bare minimum of our offer, is what you're saying," Max spoke up from the chair he was lounging in.

"Hey, I couldn't chance sounding insane, and I didn't know if they'd figured it out yet," Bellatrix said defensively.

"Figured out what yet?" Hakuryuu inquired as his gaze narrowed on the woman, his suspicion regarding her help returning in a heartbeat.

"Uh…Neela? Can you explain?"

"He asked you," the girl replied as she walked past Bell and sat down at the table across from Max.

"Way to throw me under the bus…okay, this is gonna sound weird…" Bellatrix paused a moment and raised a hand to scratch the back of her head, looking somewhat lost in thought while Hakuryuu's glare hardened on her. "Well…we uh…we know you two aren't from around these parts, and we figured we'd help out. Blackcastle can be sorta rough when it isn't familiar territory."

"So you're helping us because you were smart enough to realize that we're foreigners?" Judal asked.

"Ieeeeee…I should've explained that better…" Bellatrix mumbled.

"You think?" Neela interjected snidely before Bell continued.

"What I'm trying to say is…" Bellatrix sighed and repositioned herself on the counter before looking back at Hakuryuu and Judal solemnly. "We know that you're from a different dimension."

oooOOOooo

 _And so the trash of this story rears its head…Bell's road rage was far too much fun to write…sorry about the lacking presence of Ju and Ryuu in this one, they'll get more dialogue next chapter…_

 _p.s.—I know I should be working on Still Dreaming but shhhhhh._

 _p.p.s—just for the sake of clearing up any confusion, Neela is not a child, she simply looks like one at a first glance._


	4. Welcome to Blackcastle

**Welcome to Blackcastle**

For a split moment, all Judal could do was stare at Bellatrix. What she had said…made sense, at the same time as making none at all. A different dimension? That couldn't be. Even back in the history of Alma Torran, no magi or magician had ever been able to cross dimensions. Then again, all the effects of the spell pointed towards transport, and the layer of Rukh here was so thin that it was almost nonexistent. It almost felt like they were under an isolation barrier, yet Hakuryuu could still move his arm, and Judal could still feel his magoi recovering, even if he couldn't use it. It was frustrating to admit at first, then slowly the feeling grew until the magi turned away from Bellatrix and howled in rage.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Okay, I will admit it, that was not on my list of expected reactions," Bellatrix stated nonchalantly behind him.

"It was on mine," Neela noted with a giggle.

"What do you mean by a different dimension?" Hakuryuu asked in a soft, threatening tone.

"Uhm…is there any other way to describe it…parallel universe…alternate world…? Neela, Max, help…? You both know that I barely understand it myself…"

"Alright, alternate dimensions for dummies…" Max spoke up, and Judal relaxed slightly as he turned back to see the man leaning on the table. "Let's say that you're walking down a street, wandering for no rime or reason, when you suddenly come to a fork in the road. You can go left or right, and you don't really care which so you choose a direction at random. As soon as you choose one direction your world splits into two and creates a separate parallel universe where you went the other way."

"I'm not quite sure I understand…" Hakuryuu murmured.

"What Max is failing to explain is that this world and your world are two places that usually exist on completely different planes of time and space," Neela clarified.

"Huh. So how'd you three even figure out that we aren't from this world?" Judal asked as he folded his arms over his chest and walked towards the table. "Every other person thought that we were either crazy or in costumes."

"When someone passes through the fabric of time and space, the jump leaves a sort of residue behind, sort of like a mini dust cloud or something. It's normally invisible to the human eye…" Neela paused to push up her glasses before continuing, "But if you can see it, it's visible on every plane _and_ it's a tell-tale sign that the person surrounded by it has crossed dimensions."

"So you can see it then, I'm guessing?" Judal took a seat next to Neela, and her ice blue eyes followed him all the way to his chair.

"Yup."

"You two are lucky that she can," Bellatrix added, "if she hadn't seen it on you then you would probably be in jail right now. And awaiting transport to Blackcastle's most prestigious and high security research lab, most likely."

"Research lab?" Hakuryuu repeated quizzically. "Why—"

"You two don't have any equipment on you and yet the dimensional residue on you is fresh," Neela explained, "your fashion choices differ greatly from the norm here and after we saw you on the news I did take the liberty of breaking into Blackcastle's online archive to check the most recent phase 4 and phase 5 expeditions. There were no reports of recently escaped subjects and you weren't listed as detainees."

"Two dimension hoppers with no present equipment or an anchored entry point," Max mused, "makes for a pretty fascinating lab rat, don't you think?"

"Wait a second," Judal spoke up, "Equipment? Expeditions? Detainees? What the fuck are you guys talking about?"

"Aaaahh, ya see, the thing is…Blackcastle's kinda the cornerstone city on dimensional research in this universe," Bellatrix replied.

"To an average citizen here, all that research is simply based in theory," Neela continued, "but…"

"But you three aren't your average citizens," Hakuryuu finished, "So who are you then?"

"It seems some formal introductions are in order…" Max murmured before clearing his throat, "The name is Maxwell Drummond, Max for short. I used to work as a special ops mechanic in Blackcastle's dimensional research facilities, did things like equipment and weapon maintenance. The midget across from me is Neela Bakshi, former mission operator in the same research facilities."

"I kept open the communication lines with our expedition teams," Neela clarified. "And on occasion I was ordered to hop dimensions and collect data on a world's energy readings."

"And as you already know, my name is Bellatrix, Bellatrix Garcia for long, Bell for short. On paper I'm listed as a former special operative in the military, but to be honest that's just a euphemism for bona fide dimension hopper. This city recruits a few dozen select citizens each year that the council deems as competent in one of our three fields and trains them to go on expeditions through an anchored portal creator. Puts them in teams and sends them off to unknown dimensions for the sake of _discovery_."

"So this city…uses its magic to cross dimensions?" Hakuryuu clarified.

Bellatrix let out a laugh at that. "Nah son, nothing magic about it. It's based entirely in science, though I suppose that you're about as likely to understand the formulas behind it as I am to win a million dollars in the lottery tomorrow."

"And how likely is that, if you don't mind my asking?" Neela asked.

"Completely impossible," Bellatrix replied, "I didn't by a ticket."

"Hm. Wait, so, um…" Neela stared at Hakuryuu a moment before letting out a short huff, "Sorry, what were your names again?"

"Judal and Hakuryuu," Judal answered shortly while he gestured between them.

"Right. So you've both mentioned magic several times now…is that what brought you here?"

"What about it?"

"Huh. Well that could be a problem…" Neela murmured.

"What? What about that is a fucking problem?"

"Well, magic doesn't really work in Blackcastle. We've visited worlds that had magic in abundance, yet anything we brought back that relied on magic either didn't work or functioned at a fraction of the normal power level. Apparently the atmosphere in our dimension naturally suppresses that type of energy."

Judal was silent for a second as he stared at Neela's impassive expression. No magic. He'd had his suspicions before, but now that they were confirmed, he could feel his anger broiling up until he was seething in rage. The magi's face twisted into a murderous scowl, yet the girl he was glaring at merely tilted her head.

"Will you calm down if I give you dessert? You're liable to pop a blood vessel if you don't cool your britches."

"Listen you little twerp, who said you could talk to me like that?" Judal hissed.

Neela stared at him a few seconds more before looking over at Hakuryuu. "What's this guy's favorite food?"

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Uh…I think it's peaches…?"

"Don't answer her!"

"Hm," Neela gave a short nod before standing from her seat, moving towards the kitchen, and turning towards a bowl on the counter that appeared to be filled with fruit. She rummaged through it for a brief moment before returning to her seat and holding out a peach to Judal. "Looks like we have enough. You can have it if you take a chill pill."

Judal's eyes narrowed on Neela before he snatched the peach out of her hands and bit into the fruit. After a moment he beamed—this was a good peach, so he could afford to calm down for a bit.

"Max, what are you doing?"

"Hn? Oh. I'm recording this moment for posterity."

Judal looked up at the blonde man, his eyes wandered his scrawny frame briefly before focusing on the strange black rectangle in his hand. Recording…?

"Just because I don't let you and Bell eat my peaches does not mean that I'm opposed to sharing them with someone who actually likes them. Besides, I only gave him one because there were three left."

"Whatever," Max sighed and tapped the black rectangle with his thumb a few times before shoving it into his pant pocket and rising from his seat. "Well, I'm gonna retreat to my room for the rest of the night. We can finish the rest of the conversation tomorrow morning."

"You sure that's the best course of action?" Bellatrix spoke up.

"Doesn't really matter to me," Max replied as he knelt down and lifted a section of connected floorboards to reveal a staircase, "I've simply reached my limit on social interaction for the day. If I spend any more time above ground I'll wind up hating you two more than I already do."

"Fine," Bellatrix sighed, "See ya tomorrow."

"Nighty night, cave troll," Neela said mockingly.

"Drop dead, short stack." Max mumbled as he closed the trapdoor behind him, and Bell giggled slightly before hopping down from the counter.

"Well, it appears we'll have to explain the rest tomorrow."

"But you haven't explained a way for us to get back," Hakuryuu noted as Bell shuffled towards him.

"Tomorrow, toots," Bellatrix repeated, "All I can tell you right now is that we're looking into it. And by 'we' I mean Neela."

"Gee, thanks," Neela spoke up dryly as she rose to her feet. "Not like I wanted to sleep tonight."

"Sorry, did you stop being nocturnal since yesterday?"

"I'm not 'nocturnal', I take naps. There's a difference."

"Well, look into what we discussed and then take a nap," Bellatrix offered, "I'm gonna get our extra blankets, so you should get the sofa set up."

"Oh yes, leave the physical labor to the one with noodle arms," Neela muttered as Bell disappeared up the stairs. The girl sighed and glanced between Judal and Hakuryuu before spinning on her heels and walking towards the door on the opposite her side of the table. "Come on. We have temporary living arrangements to set you up in."

Judal bit into his peach again as he stood and followed her after Hakuryuu into the next room, which looked vaguely like one of the living areas in the Kou Palace, only smaller with less ornate designs and a total of one sofa. On the opposite wall, shelves of books flanked each window, and sitting before the sofa was a curiously large black panel and several black and silver boxes connected to it with thin black cords. Judal frowned at the strange objects before looking to his left and seeing something only mildly stranger—several panels and cords connected to taller black boxes flanking either side of a sleek corner table. Each panel was lit from the inside, some revealed strange moving pictures and others seemed to be covered in a sort of writing.

"What are those?" Judal asked absently, earning a glance from Neela in the process.

"Should've guessed that you'd be unfamiliar with technology…the big black thing in front of the couch is called a television, and the stuff in the corner is my desk and my computers. Touch anything in that corner and I'll use our bread knife to chop off your fingers."

Judal's eyes narrowed briefly at the last comment, but after a moment he simple scoffed and sauntered over to get a closer look at the television. It was a weird rectangle, with a smooth black screen and a shiny black frame made of some weird, unidentifiable material. What did they even use this for? Judal finished off his peach and discarded the pit while he leaned closer to the strange panel; a short moment later he felt a tap on his shoulder and he glanced over to find Neela glaring at him, the peach pit he'd recently discarded between two tiny fingers.

"And," she continued calmly, "if I ever catch you littering in my domain again, I'll use this pretty braid of yours as bonfire fuel. Are we clear?"

"You've got a lotta nerve for a pipsqueak," Judal noted irritably.

"Nerve or not, the living room is my temple. Desecrate it and I'll make you suffer."

"Whatever," he mumbled as he turned back to the thing she'd called a television and continued studying it while she walked away.

"Will we be staying in that room back there?" Hakuryuu inquired from the doorway.

"Depends." the sound of Neela's footsteps travelled to the far corner of the room, after which the creak of an opening door was heard. "How good are you at passing through cardboard boxes? Oh, crap, that one's about to fall…" Judal glanced behind him in time to see Neela close the door and shuffle back towards the couch, her eyes focused all the while on Hakuryuu. "We usually set up guests in this room, since the only guest we usually have is Mrs. Drummond, twice a year. Thus the 'guest bedroom' doesn't even have a bed…now…yeah, this just isn't going to work."

Neela shook her head as she stared at the couch thoughtfully. After a few moments of silence, Bellatrix burst through the doorway with a pile of blankets, which she promptly dropped when she saw Neela. "Why isn't the bed set up yet?"

"You know, sometimes I get the feeling that you forget that I'm a sedentary short person who barely weighs more than one hundred pounds and has the muscle mass of your average two year old."

"Couldn't even be bothered to try, could you?"

"Do I look interested in being crushed by a bed frame?"

"God…move over, both of you," Bell sighed as she shooed Neela and Judal out of the way of the sofa before taking a moment to push the piece back a bit. She then took the cushions and threw them at Neela, who stumbled a bit in the process of catching them while Judal squinted to get a look at what had been beneath them. Bellatrix grasped a black handle in the couch and gave it a mildly forceful tug, causing the sound of creaking metal as the frame lifted out of the sofa. Bell took a few steps back, and after a moment the sofa had transformed into a somewhat large sized mattress. Judal blinked at the spectacle while Bell clapped her hands together and collected the blankets.

"That's kinda cool…" he murmured, and Neela let out a soft snort before bursting into a fit of giggles. Judal scowled as he shot an angry glare down at the girl. "What?"

"Nothing…just…" Neela paused and let out another soft giggle, "I've never seen someone so _fascinated_ by a sleeper sofa before."

"I've never seen one before, you damn pipsqueak!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Neela's laughter died down and she looked up at Judal seriously. "And, for the record, it would be in your best interest to stop calling me pipsqueak."

"Oh? What are you gonna do about it, you little twerp?"

"Can't say," she replied nonchalantly, "That would ruin the surprise."

"Neela, can you at least make yourself useful and help me _make_ the bed?" Bell spoke up in exasperation.

"Sure, Bell." Neela graced Judal with one last smirk before walking over to help her roommate with the sheets. Judal glared daggers into her back while she departed, until her presence beside him was replaced by Hakuryuu.

"Can we really trust these assholes?" he asked his king vaguely, earning a brief sigh in response.

"From the looks of it, we don't have much of a choice. They do seem to be honorable people, at the least."

"I don't like them."

"You'll have to learn to," Hakuryuu spoke sternly, "If you can't use your magic then our only hope in returning home lies with them."

"We can find a way to make it wor—"

"Judal. I have decided to trust them. Do you intend to go against me?"

The magi's scowl deepened before he let out a short huff. "Fine. But I still don't like them."

"You'll have to learn to coexist. I don't want to sabotage our only shot of getting out of this place."

"Our only hope of getting home is to rely on these freaks…" Judal mused, "If you ask me, we're completely fucked."

oooOOOooo

 _Ayyy. So I'm back with even more trash than last time…so. I started up a roleplay blog for the OCs in this story while I was away…you can find that at misfits-of-blackcastle dot tumblr dot com. Special thanks to the tumblr Judal rpers fallenxmagi and despxcio for helping me get Judal decently correct in these past few chapters. I've been having a touch of difficulty with him to be honest. I'll be back with another update soon._


	5. Bonus Clip--Neela's Revenge

**Bonus Clip—Neela's Revenge**

It was nearing two in the morning on their first night in this insane asylum that their hosts dared to call home, and Judal couldn't get to sleep for the life of him. Perhaps it was the fact that on a minute level he was still pretty pissed about the lack of magic in Blackcastle, but mostly he figured that it might have something to do with the obnoxious tapping sound traveling over from the corner to his left, where Neela was still very much awake in her area.

Judal had attempted to make her stop, but upon demanding her silence he received a rather curt "Make me." He hadn't bothered to try again, and as the tapping came to a curious halt, he peeked over the edge of the fold out bed in time to watch Neela quietly slip away from her desk and shuffle out to the kitchen.

A tiny click reached his ears and the room over became lit once more; the soft thumps that were Neela's footsteps fading only slightly until she returned to Judal's line of vision with a bucket in tow. The magi lifted himself onto his elbows and stared through the door as Neela disappeared again and left the bucket behind; the sound of a door opening and closing traveled to his ears, and the girl reappeared with what appeared to be a few trays.

Judal stared at her, thoroughly baffled by her actions as she dumped the contents of each tray (which seemed to be ice, from where he was) into the bucket before lifting up the container and disappearing again. He heard more footsteps, followed by the sound of running water and Neela's muffled footfalls as they ascended the stairs. Judal frowned and fell back onto the bed. He didn't get it. What was she doing? Judal was about to brush it off and attempt to sleep now that Neela was gone, but that plan was averted as a blood curdling scream erupted from one of the rooms upstairs.

The magi nearly jumped out of his skin as the scream continued, noting that the victim sounded a lot like Bellatrix. Hakuryuu shifted slightly next to him, letting out a soft groan before lifting onto his elbows.

"What in the world…?"

"NEELAAAA!"

"…not my problem," Neela spoke calmly as she came back downstairs.

"What if the shock of that had killed me, you jackass?!" Bellatrix shrieked as she stomped downstairs after her.

"Then your ghost would know to get my butterbeer in the next life," Neela said calmly as she returned to her area, followed by Bell, who wasted no time flicking on the offensively bright light in the living room. Judal winced at the sudden change in lighting and groaned before his vision focused on the rather soaked and rather pathetic looking Bellatrix. Judal couldn't help but laugh.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Neela happened," Bell muttered bitterly, "and I wouldn't laugh. Rumor has it that you're probably the next target."

Judal paled significantly at that. "That pipsqueak wouldn't dare," he said quickly in an attempt to mask the sudden spike in fear that he felt.

"Would you like to test that theory?"

Judal's eyes swerved to his right and he saw Neela leaning over his shoulder, wearing one of the most cheerful smiles he'd ever seen on another human and with a glint in her eyes that almost made him want to shudder.

"Because, you know, I'd absolutely _love_ to exceed your expectations," she said softly as she leaned only slightly closer. Judal unconsciously backed away, and Neela chuckled before pulling back and taking his pillow with her.

"Hey!"

Neela ignored the magi's angry growl and tossed the pillow in Bell's general direction, her cheerful smile still plastered across her face. "Bathtub's open," she chirped to her roommate.

Bell snarled as she lurched forward to catch the pillow, her eyes fixed on Neela with a hateful glare. "You are a heartless bitch," she growled before turning and stomping back upstairs. Neela simply smiled and did a small stretch, and Judal suppressed the urge to snap at her before turning and snatching Hakuryuu's pillow from under his head. The drowsy man turned to him in protest.

"That's _my_ pillow."

"Yeah, well I need it more than you do," Judal snapped.

"Ah, what a lovely night," Neela said cheerfully before wandering back to her desk and picking up one of the devices that she kept on it. "I think I'm going to take Lucifer out to the porch for a bit, get a little bit of fresh air. Nighty night." The girl shuffled out of the living room, pausing only just to flick off the lights on her way out. Judal grumbled and flopped down onto the mattress childishly. If he had been doubtful that he'd enjoy their stay here earlier that evening, he was now certain that he wouldn't.

oooOOOooo

 _It should be noted that Neela's computers are all named after religious figures because reasons._


End file.
